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Breaking the Silence

It is exactly how I thought it would be. Goodbye pet battles, hello Mortal Kombat!

Test Your Might.

I hadn’t been planning on running out to try to get an invitation, but one of my guildies mentioned he was in a bidding war for one, so I went to check out the prices.

On my server, Blood-Soaked Invitations were running around 20k gold at close of sale. There were ten auctions up just like Blizz said there’d be, but with all different close times. 20k is something I could afford, to access the brand new content. So I gave it a try, and won!

On Alliance side, the Brawler’s Guild can be found in the Deeprun Tram, on the Stormwind side. It’s cool where they put it, I enjoyed finding it’s secret location. :)

First thing I can tell you, anyone can get in there and watch. Someone was in the Deeprun Tram asking in General how to find it, we in the Guild talked him in, and first thing he asked once he got there and started watching was if someone else could invite him, and if he could be in the guild at level 85. It is open to all spectators. And there are vendors you can buy rotten fruit to throw at challengers. So, you can still be an active part.

Oh yeah, remember how someone IN the Brawler’s Guild can invite someone? Well, here are the conditions. You have to fight your way to Rank 7 (There are four fights per rank Level) and once you reach Rank 7, you get ONE invitation to give to one other person. Ever. And that’s on your entire account, because invitations are account wide.

Oh yeah, that’s right. When you get the invitation on one character, your entire account has it. So, there’s that.

That pet is crazy. Check out Wowhead, it’s a mechanical Gnome with two fists that look just like the huge gauntlet you could get as a reward for punching Deathwing in the face in Badlands! He looks rocking! And you only need to reach Rank 4 to buy him.

Now, for a recap.

I got my invitation, headed to Stormwind, and entered the fight club. You talk to the bouncers around the pit, and ask to be put on the list for a fight. Then, you watch. When you’re next in line, you get a warning. You can also ask the bouncers how many folks are waiting in line ahead of you.

When it’s your turn, you get ported down to the pit floor.

I’m finding that my Misdirection does not work in the pit, at all. As a Hunter, I’ve got to rely on moving my butt, kiting, and using other skills than just “Misdirect to pet, focus fire down.” That’s very cool, but it was certainly disconcerting on my first fight!

So, how did it go?

I intended to hop in, try a fight, then go to bed.

Three hours later….

Seriously folks, it is exactly how I pictured it. Except, I was having too much fun queueing and cheering people on to leave my desk for another beer.

I kept getting spam invites from someone in the club. I finally talked to them, and found out that it has become common practice for a raid group of players to form, so folks can share buffs and easily resurrect the losers who die in the ring, saving them a long run back. This is awesome! People formed up and were cheering each other on, and generally having a great time.

I don’t know that I’ve mentioned this before, but Askevar of You Yank It, You Tank It and her husband have recently joined the guild I’m in, along with the inimitable Penguin of QQ Machine.

Well, Askevar won her own Brawler’s Guild invitation shortly after I did last night, and quickly joined me to show what a Death Knight could do in there.

We had fun talking about the fights, cheering each other on, and hey, screenshots!

I sent Askevar the screenshots I took so she could use them in a post someday, and she was kind enough to send me pics of my last battle of the evening… King Kulaka!

I fought my way to rank 2 last night, and this dinosaur was all that stood between me and ending the night at Rank 3.

I saw a lot of different styles of fighting, including a Holy Paladin named Lifey that was doing pretty well.

The one thing you’ve got to keep in mind is, there is an Enrage timer on the fights, you can’t take too long or a rain of firewill start coming down, and WILL one shot you. You’ve got to close escrow, as we used to say.

I saw more folks lose to the Enrage Timer rain of fire than to the actual bosses. People clearly know how to move and run and jink and scurry, but you’ve got to kill those dudes to win, and you don’t have all day to go about it.

Askevar did extremely well herself, she was Rank 2 right on my heels, and for all I know is way past me now. Dippy the Happyfeet gave her a moment’s trouble, but she took care of business while I watched.

It was cute to see a Death Knight summon an Army of the Dead to take care of one pissy penguin.

Well, Askevar is used to dealing with pissy penguins, so clearly she knows best. (Just kidding, Zealot!)

If you are able to get in there… your mileage (and the ability of your preferred spec to solo mobs) may vary, but the overall atmosphere is awesome.

3 thoughts on “Breaking the Silence”

So, Askevar reached Rank 4 the last I spoke to her and got the pet, and I spent some time (okay, a few hours) on Sunday and did the same. Rank 4, with the new pet.

The fights really are exciting, and it was cool to have Taikuuta come and watch me flail for a few wipes on Ixx. I had the darndest time getting my butt THROUGH the big brain bug before getting flattened. Like, 4 times.

But, I did it, and I think this is the kind of thing that I can see trying one boss every couple of days, just to keep moving forward.

I really hope people give it a chance. It’s a lot of fun. Don’t get me wrong, it’s hard as hell, despite what the elitist trolls on Wowhead assure you of. Going by Wowhead comments, you’d quickly get the idea that every single boss that exists in Brawler’s Guild is super easy and only losers would die even once. Don’t worry about it. Just watching for any length of time will show you that there is a distinct learning curve. :)